Autoportrait

Man Ray, Autoportrait, 1933, mixed media: bronze, glass, wood, and newsprint , 14 x 8 ¹⁄₄ x 5 ³⁄₈ in. (35.6 x 21.1 x 13.7 cm.), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Juliet Man Ray, 1983.105.2

Artwork Details

Title: Autoportrait
Artist: Man Ray
Date: 1933
Location: Not on view
Dimensions: 14 x 8 ¹⁄₄ x 5 ³⁄₈ in. (35.6 x 21.1 x 13.7 cm.)
Credit Line: Gift of Juliet Man Ray
Mediums: mixed media
glass
wood
bronze
Mediums Description: mixed media: bronze, glass, wood, and newsprint
Classifications: Sculpture
Assemblage
Subjects: Portrait male — Man Ray — head
Portrait male — Man Ray — self-portrait
Occupation — art — photographer
Occupation — art — sculptor
Dress — accessory — eye wear
Occupation — art — painter
Object Number: 1983.105.2
Linked Open Data: https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1983.105.2

Artwork Description

Man Ray created this self-portrait in Paris, intending for it to appear on the cover of a book of his photographs. A bronze cast of his face, wearing the artist's glasses, mocks the tradition of memorializing great men with death masks. The cast is cushioned in newsprint like a corpse in a coffin. Autoportrait suggests an artist entombed in his reputation and belies Man Ray's brave assertion "I simply try to be as free as possible . . . The work is done. I have total freedom."

Exhibition Label, Smithsonian American Art Museum, 2006